The Boston Red Sox certainly made its roster better on paper before the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline on Monday.
Catcher has been a position of weakness for the organization and the Red Sox went out and landed one of the best overall backstops in the game in Adley Rutschman. On top of him, Boston went out and landed Curtis Mead, who is currently on the Injured List, and reliever Erik Miller before the deadline came and went.
Boston is better on paper right now, despite the high price the organization paid in prospects. Dealing away Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, plus Connelly Early, is a hit to the organization’s pitching depth. But the Red Sox are still in a very good place with one of the best overall rotations in the league. Plus, they have one of the best overall pitchers in baseball working his way back. Garrett Crochet reportedly has begun throwing and has reached 50-60 feet, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic.
Progress Has Been Made
That’s not all, though. McCaffrey reported that outfielder Roman Anthony has begun taking batting practice as well.
“Garrett Crochet has begun throwing at 50-60 feet,” McCaffrey wrote. “Roman Anthony has started taking BP.”
These are two significant — and positive — updates from McCaffrey. Crochet hasn’t made a start for Boston since April 25. Back in mid-July, Crochet spoke to Red Sox on SI about his injury progress and at the time, he wasn’t throwing. Just a few weeks have passed and now Crochet has begun throwing. This is the first major step in his trip back to the majors. It’s going to take weeks, at least, for Crochet to return to game action. But this is very positive.
On the Anthony front, it was shared at the end of July that the young outfielder had begun hitting off a tee. That was progress in itself. Taking batting practice is a major step forward on top of that. That means that Anthony is not only swinging, but he’s connecting against velocity. That is a true test for his injury and whether or not he gets pain from it.
The team shared that Anthony wouldn’t be swinging until he was pain-free. The fact that he has reached this point, like Crochet, is a massively positive sign. In a season full of negative injury updates, these are the ones Boston fans have been waiting for. Clear progress has been made and neither should be ruled out for the 2026 season.
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